


They'd find us in a week

by whynotcherries



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Baelfire | Neal Cassidy Lives, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:27:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23489809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whynotcherries/pseuds/whynotcherries
Summary: Neal finds Emma in the woods after she runs away.
Relationships: Baelfire | Neal Cassidy/Emma Swan
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	They'd find us in a week

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I tried, but I've been having a bit of a writer's block for a while now.
> 
> Anyway, I asked myself what would happen if Neal was there when Emma lost control of her powers- this is what I came up with, I'm sorry I keep writing about the same four episodes. 
> 
> I hope you like this!

“You okay?” 

Emma spins around, gasping, “God- what are you _doing here?”_

Neal clears his throat, taking a few steps forward, and Emma backs into her car in return, “I was looking for you. Your whole family- everyone’s worried,” he explains, tilting his head down.

She shakes her head, wrapping her arms around herself, “They don’t need to be, I just- I don’t wanna hurt anyone else. Including you, so-” 

“I don’t care,” she twitches, because she’s not sure if he’s ever said that to her, that he didn’t care after she’s said something, and she’s not sure that it’s a bad thing by default, but she’s definitely not loving it right now. “I don’t care if you hurt me. But I’m not leaving you here whether or not you do.”

She starts sniffling a little bit then, shaking her head, “No, you have to go. You can’t fix this, and I can’t hurt you,” rubs her nose on her sleeve a little bit, avoiding his eyes because she knows she’ll start crying and she _cannot_ start crying right now. 

He steps forwards and she’s too busy just trying to breathe because it can’t be easy for him, having her yell at him and not let him near her while he’s in the woods, by himself, and he’s just trying to _help._

“You won’t hurt me. You won’t. And if you do, that’s okay. We can stay out here as long as you want, but I’m not gonna leave you out here because I know that if nobody comes looking for you, you’re not gonna come back, and you _have_ to come back.”

He reaches her and she tenses, as if she’s afraid of him, and _god_ , she hopes he doesn’t think that she’s afraid of him.

She’s afraid of herself.

She shakes her head as he reaches out to touch her arm, “It’s okay. Just stop.”

She takes a deep breath in and closes her eyes and he puts his hand on her shoulder.

“See?” 

She sniffles and shakes her head just enough for him to see it, “I already hurt David, I’m not- I can’t go back. Snow was so upset, I-”

“She wasn’t. I think she was just shocked, but she feels bad now. I mean, she’s the one who told us all to come looking for you,” he says, “she’s your mom. She loves you.”

She looks down, avoiding his eyes, “She’s not mad?” 

He shakes his head and squeezes her arm, putting his hand down, “She’s not.” 

She closes her eyes and she lets him just stand near her for a minute, breathing slowly and marveling at the fact that she hasn’t thrown him across the field or dropped a tree on him yet.

“Nobody’s mad, but if you want, we can stay out here. I just have to tell them you’re okay, and then they can find us, like, in a week or whatever. Or…” he stops, reaching down and taking her hand, “we can get outta here and maybe take a little trip?” 

She leans back, smiling a little bit, “Are you suggesting that we-?”

He shrugs, “Why not? We never made it to Tallahassee.”

She must look like she’s absolutely falling in love with him again right then, because he stares at her with a fondness that she could barely match, herself. 

She wants to go. She wants to go so, so bad, “But Henry-”

He cuts her off, “He can come with us if you want! He’d probably like it, going out of town. He’ll get to live his own adventure,” he reaches down and grabs her hands, “I want you to be okay, and whatever that takes, I’ll do,” he takes a second to think, “except for leave, I’m not doin’ that.”

She sighs, looking away from him, “You think he’d wanna come?”

He nods, and she closes her eyes tight, “So, Tallahassee?” 

She nods, squeezing his hands back letting him kiss her forehead, because if she hasn’t hurt him yet, maybe there’s something between them that stops her from it.

_Home._


End file.
